Winning and Losing
by Jazzola
Summary: When the gang wins the lottery, they expect for life to be smooth sailing afterwards. But there are people in Ohio who want what they have... and they will stop at nothing to get it. Fraphne/Shelma, rated T to be safe. WINNER OF BEST DRAMA IN 2010 AWARDS!
1. Chapter 1

In the small condo that Mystery Inc. were renting, four teenagers and a dog were sitting together in the living room, slouched on various sofas and armchairs, their eyes flicking between the screen of a large widescreen TV and a small slip of paper held in the hand of a young brunette girl snuggled against a scruffy boy wearing a green T-shirt and torn-hemmed brown slacks. Next to them, on the other sofa, an attractive redhead sporting a fluffy purple jumper and purple-tinted jeans was snoozing after her long shopping trip that morning, her head leaning on the shoulder of a blond-haired boy wearing a white shirt and plain jeans, who was focusing on the TV and trying not to sneeze due to the fluff coming from her jumper. In front of them, lounging on an assortment of pillows, cushions, blankets and bean-bags (some of which actually belonged to the gang), was a large Great Dane with a turquoise collar round his neck. As the dog turned his head the tag flashed and the initials "SD" stood out from the gold surround which had cost the gang dear, since the tag was actually gold-plated.

The group had decided to have a go at the lottery earlier on in the day, whilst at the corner shop, and after half an hour's arguing over the numbers had decided and paid. Now they were watching to see if they had won, or even gotten a number right; before they had had two goes at it and neither of the tickets had even gotten one number.

The show came on, and the atmosphere tensed in the room, for everyone except the redhead, who carried on sleeping.

"And this week's numbers are…"

Fred gently nudged Daphne awake as the numbers waited to be chosen, and she murmured "is it on?" and opened her eyes blearily. Fred put his arm round her and she wriggled closer to him, grinning as he sneezed due to a fresh onslaught of fluff from her jumper.

"Seven!"

Velma smiled.

"Hey, gang, we got one!"

Fred smiled and Shaggy punched the air.

"Eighteen!"

"Another one?" Daphne asked, flipping back her hair and hitting Fred in the face. Scooby sniggered and Fred sighed. Velma nodded and Shaggy did a mock victory dance.

"Like, we're having great luck so far!"

"What's the bet the next one is millions off?" Velma asked, smiling. She knew the exact figures of their chances of winning the lottery and they were slim.

"Four!"

"Oh, no, we got that one too…"

"We have?" Fred asked, his eyes widening. "Wow."

Daphne looked over at the ticket for herself and whistled.

"I would love to get all the numbers."

"Wouldn't we all, man," Shaggy said, motioning to the peeling wallpaper of the condo. The living room badly needed re-decorating.

"Reah, reah!" Scooby butted in with his opinion, making the others laugh.

"Maybe, guys," Daphne said, pointing to the screen as five came up. "We've got five too."

The room suddenly became silent as the next number slid onto the screen.

"And fourteen…" Fred murmured.

The atmosphere was no longer simply tense. It was electric. As one, the group leaned forwards towards the TV, their eyes wide and ears practically on stalks.

"Sixteen."

Daphne gasped, her hand flying to her mouth as she saw the same number on the slip. Velma was beginning to find breathing hard. Fred had stopped breathing altogether and was holding his breath in anticipation. Shaggy fell off the sofa as he leaned further towards the TV. Scooby yelped as the beatnik landed on him, but his focus was on the TV and so was Shaggy's.

And then the final number came.

"Twenty-five."

Velma could barely bring herself to look down at the slip of paper in her hand, but she knew what she would see.

Etched clearly and innocently on the paper, ringed by her, was the number twenty-five.

The rest of the gang leaned over, just to check, and then, still silent, stared round at each other, eyes shining, unable as of yet to comprehend what had just happened to them.

And then it sank in.

Someone standing outside the house might have thought some kind of explosion had taken place as the five started screaming and yelling and, in Velma and Daphne's cases, crying. Shaggy and Scooby started doing a mad kind of victory cha-cha together, Velma just screamed at the top of her lungs and started jumping about, not caring that she was losing it a bit, and Fred and Daphne instantly turned to each other and hugged each other. Daphne leaned up and kissed Fred full on the lips, tears shining on her cheeks, and Fred deepened the kiss, drawing her closer to him and closing his own eyes. Shaggy pulled Velma into the cha-cha and she laughed as they kicked in unison and screamed and yelled and shrieked and held the miraculous little piece of paper high up in the air, out of harm from the celebrations.

"WE WON THE LOTTERY! WE WON THE LOTTERY!" Shaggy whooped, catching Velma in his arms and planting a kiss on her cheek as well. She giggled and blushed a deep crimson.

"With a chance of 1 in 13,983,816," she murmured, hardly able to take it in still. Shaggy kissing her hadn't helped.

Daphne laughed at the pair, and Velma dropped the paper as Shaggy kissed her on the lips. Fred swooped down and picked up the precious little slip of paper, tucking it safely in his jeans pocket. Shaggy resumed his cha-cha and Daphne rushed through to the kitchen to grab a pack of J2Os in celebration. They hadn't got any champagne, and besides, they were underage.

With the glasses filled with J2Os and the gang settling slightly after their shock and the resultant celebrations, the sofas were once again occupied by the group. A small party started up, with Shaggy selecting 60's music for the stereo and the rest of the gang just laughing and talking about what they would do now and what they would do with the money and who to tell about it all and just generally celebrating their extraordinary win.

They were in no hurry to go to bed, even though after a couple of hours Fred fell asleep and Daphne had to wake him up to get the slip from his pocket so that they could take a proof photo of it just in case.

* * *

At five in the morning, five bleary-eyed and yawning members of Mystery Inc. walked upstairs to bed, anticipating claiming their reward the next day and still mildly in shock.

Velma had thought she would fall asleep on contact with her pillow, but instead she lay awake for most of the night, listening to the sound of Shaggy snoring in the next bedroom along and thinking about the money they had won. For some reason, every time she thought of the win, her stomach clenched and a sense of dread and anticipation filled her stomach, but it wasn't a good sense of anticipation.

"Stop being so silly," she murmured to herself, turning over and clutching her blanket in both hands, trying to sleep. She had had a cuddle blanket when she was little and feeling the soft fabric helped her to relax slightly, but not much. "You'll just collect the money and probably keep it in storage. They said five million dollars, that's one million dollars each. So you can simply celebrate and relax and everything will be fine. It won't change the gang or anything like that."

But the more she tried to convince herself that life would just continue as before, the more the sense of dread took over, growing stronger and stronger until eventually Velma slipped into an uneasy sleep, full of dreams of her and her friends in desperate situations and dark silhouettes cackling their evil laughs and slapping their hands over her mouth so she couldn't even scream.


	2. Chapter 2

"This is the Ohio News at eight o'clock. The headlines today: the famous members of Mystery Inc. are named as the winners of this week's lottery jackpot, winning five million dollars…"

Daphne smiled at the TV as a picture of her smiling and holding up the cheque came on. Fred was at the edge of the shot, making sure they didn't lose the cheque and asking Daphne to be careful with it, and the others were behind them, Shaggy eating a victory éclair and Scooby giving the photographers a huge, cheesy smile. Velma was smiling as well, but the rest of the gang knew it wasn't her usual smile and that she was thinking hard about something else.

"You OK, Velms?" Fred asked, looking at the picture and then at her. Velma sighed inwardly- she could count on Fred to notice when she was feeling odd. Daphne was too ditzy and Shaggy did notice, but not as quickly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Really."

Fred narrowed his eyes at her, opening his mouth to ask another question.

"Freddy," Daphne called from the hall suddenly, making him jump slightly. "Could you come here? I think the phone's disconnected itself."

With one last look Velma's way, Fred walked out to help Daphne with the phone and Velma sat down, thinking hard. What was it that was getting to her? Whatever it was, it was showing. She tried to corner the sense, to find out exactly what it was and why it was there, but it evaded her and she sighed, giving up. Shaggy paused in the middle of a huge pickle, pineapple, olive and salami sandwich and also looked at her, concern written on his face (under the food smeared on it).

"Velms, like, are you OK? You're, like, not yourself."

Velma sighed, standing up and heading to her room, giving Shaggy a little smile as she did so.

"You're right, Shag. I'm not myself."

She headed up the stairs as she said it, rubbing her eyes behind her glasses and yawning due to her late night.

* * *

Reading didn't help, not even her favourite book at the moment, _A Definition of The Physical World_. Watching a few minutes of _Avatar _on her small TV didn't work either, although normally she was fascinated by the world of Pandora and the way things worked and the floating mountains especially. As a last resort, she snuck into Fred's room and borrowed his GameBoy for a while. The initial "borrowing" of the GameBoy helped to distract her, and she laughed when she found that Fred had hidden her favourite game under his mattress because she kept beating him at it, but the distraction didn't last long and soon Velma was once again brooding on this feeling.

"Maybe I'll go for a walk around the block, it'll calm me down," she thought, making to steal back into Fred's room and return the GameBoy without him noticing. He saw, but didn't say anything; he was still thinking about her mood and how out of sorts she was.

The fresh Ohio air seemed like heaven to Velma as she walked slowly round towards the corner shop they had bought the winning ticket from, her hood up on her coat to avoid her being recognised and to keep her warm from the chilly air, and she could feel her body relaxing. But the sense of dread and the sense that something was lurking, waiting for her, refused to go away, and Velma shivering had nothing to do with the cold as she walked further and further away from the condo, out into the suburbs.

She didn't notice the dark figure waiting for her behind one corner.

Velma walked past the building, not looking for anyone, looking down at the grey concrete under her feet, not caring where she was going and knowing that she knew the area well enough to get home on her own…

Black-gloved hands shot out and grabbed her around the eyes and mouth, and she gave a muffled scream, taken completely by surprise. The hands tightened their grip and someone hissed in her ear, "Shut up or you die!" Velma made herself quieten, not wanting to lose her life. Her mind was going crazy, shrieking with shock, and she felt sick, but she needed to keep herself together or she would be killed. The person gagged her with a scrap of dirty, filthy-tasting cloth and she wanted desperately to kick out and resist them, but she knew it would do more harm than good.

The person picked her up in a rough fireman's lift and started carrying her towards a white Transit van parked a little way away, grunting under her weight. It wasn't that Velma was particularly heavy, but the person wasn't very big or very strong and they were struggling. Processing this, Velma hoped she could use it to her advantage later on, but right now she was helpless.

The person put her down inside the van and slammed the doors shut as someone else leaned over and tied her up, making sure that her ears and eyes and mouth were covered and she had no way of escape that they could see. Velma thought briefly about trying to make a run for it, but she knew it wouldn't work and she doubted that they were unarmed- for all she knew they might have guns on them.

The van started up and sped away from Ohio and safety and Velma closed her eyes under the blindfold, wondering how long it would be before she would see her home again- if she ever saw it again.

* * *

"Velma? Like, Velms? Are you in here?"

Shaggy was working his way through the house looking for Velma. Daphne and Fred had gone out to search the area around the house, and Scooby was sniffing in Velma's room, trying to find some clue to where she might have gone. So far there was no trace of her anywhere, and the gang were growing more and more concerned.

The front door banged open and a breath of cold air blew in along with Fred and Daphne, both of whom were ruffled and pink-cheeked from the cold and looking downcast.

"Any luck?" Shaggy asked, climbing the stairs from the basement. They shook their heads in unison.

"Nothing," Fred said, sighing and yanking his jacket off. Daphne put her hand on his arm.

"I'd put that back on, Freddy. We'll have to go to the police station and report her missing."

Fred nodded and slid his arm back in. Shaggy whistled up the stairs to let Scooby know they were there and, once Fred and Daphne had gotten their hearing back and their ears weren't aching anymore, they piled into the van and headed towards the police station.

Halfway there, Fred suddenly pulled over, closing his eyes slightly, and Daphne put her hand on his arm and looked into his eyes, concerned.

"Freddy, are you OK?"

"I just thought," Fred said quietly, turning to the rest of the gang, his face white. "What if someone took Velma because we won the lottery? What if they took her to hold her to ransom?"

There was silence in the van for a minute as the gang exchanged looks of horror.

"Velms…" Shaggy whispered, breaking the silence, his eyes wide. "Like, Velma Dinkley, where are you?"

* * *

"Welcome to your new home, Miss Dinkley."

Velma blinked in sudden sunlight as someone took the blindfold off her and opened the curtains of a small room, smiling at her as they did so. It wasn't a friendly smile.

"You'll be staying here for a while. You won't enjoy your stay."

"Why am I here?" Velma asked fiercely. The person chuckled, turning so that Velma could see their face. They were wearing a balaclava, but from what Velma could tell they were male, and small, of slight build, and fairly young.

"I'm going to keep you here until I have what I want. I won't hurt you unless you try to run. I need you alive for my plan."

"What plan?" Velma asked, dreading the answer. The man laughed.

"That would be telling."

"Just tell me!"

Velma could feel desperation creeping up on her now, and clenched her fists, thinking of what the possible motives could be. Her brain was still in a frenzy, and the real answer evaded her.

"Come on now. I would have thought you'd figure it out, with that big brain of yours."

Velma looked deep into the person's dark grey eyes.

"Just tell me."

The fabric around the man's lips curved into a smile.

"I'm holding you to ransom, for five million dollars."


	3. Chapter 3

"Can we have a photo of her? We're going to broadcast it on the news."

Shaggy nodded silently and passed a picture of Velma over to the police officer. In the photo, she was grinning at the camera, her hand on Shaggy's and her arm casually slung across Fred's shoulders, wearing her red bikini under a long orange beach dress. It was one of the few photos of herself Velma didn't hate, and Shaggy knew that it was a good, clear one, one that people would recognise her from.

"We'll get this out. Someone is bound to come forward. You are Mystery Inc., after all."

Shaggy nodded and the gang returned to the van, sitting inside in silence until Scooby broke it.

"Rare re roing ro rearch ror Relma?"

Shaggy looked round at the others, who looked back at him.

"I dunno," Daphne said slowly, thinking hard. "I mean, the people who took her might get violent and try to hurt us and her, but at the same time, she is Velma and we need her back."

Fred leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes briefly, thinking. Daphne reached out and put her hand on his forehead.

"Freddy? You're flushed. Have you got a fever or something?"

He shook his head, opening his eyes and looking round at the others.

"I reckon we should try and find her. I don't know what these people want, but we should try and find her no matter what. We're detectives and she's one of us."

"Like, agreed, man," Shaggy said, nodding his agreement and reaching out to stroke Scooby's smooth light brown head. Daphne smiled and took her hand off Fred's so he could shift the van into gear.

Watching them from the shadows, a person moved away, slinking through the bushes at the edge of the police precinct and watching the van leaving the parking area and joining the main road.

She looked down at the ground for a second, and then walked hurriedly away, hiding her face under a crimson wool hat, allowing a few strands of thick blonde hair to fall from underneath it.

* * *

"Hungry, Miss Dinkley?"

Velma glared at the door as it opened and the person holding her captive walked in, their face once again hidden beneath the balaclava. This time, they had someone else with them, but it wasn't the person who had tied Velma up in the van; this was a new person, a woman from her figure, with short blonde hair peeping out from under her balaclava.

"I'm fine, thank you."

The balaclava'd person smiled.

"Of course you are. I wonder if you recognise my girlfriend?"

Velma scrutinised the woman, her forehead wrinkling.

"If she would take the balaclava off, then I might do. Have you told my friends what you want from them yet?"

"Not yet. I sent my messenger a while ago to drop something off at the police precinct. They will know about the ransom for you."

Velma clenched her fists.

"They will find me, the guys or the police. I promise you they will."

"No problem. I have my Taser at the ready."

The cold voice came from the woman, and her lips curved beneath the balaclava as she reached up, seeing comprehension and realisation dawn on Velma.

"Yes, Velma. You know who I am now, I suppose?"

Velma stared into the cold grey eyes she now recognised, hate beginning to course through her body.

"You!"

The woman laughed, a cackling, triumphant laugh that sent shivers down Velma's spine.

"Me."

She reached up and swept the balaclava off her head in one extravagant action, revealing her scheming face and wicked grin.

The woman was Verona Dempsey.

* * *

"She's not around here, and there are no clues at all."

Fred sighed as he stood up and stretched his cramping calf muscles, having spent what felt like hours examining an area of the street Velma had been kidnapped on. His eye caught something in a bush nearby and he limped over, reaching down with one hand to rub his leg and reading the little note as he did so.

"3PM, WES GRDNS, ALL UR LOT WINS. LUV V"

Fred walked back to the van with the paper in his hand, holding it out so that they could read it.

"Is it, like, a code?" Shaggy asked, looking over it.

"I think it's the ransom note."

Daphne gently took it from her boyfriend and started trying to decode it.

"We really need Velms for this sort of thing… 3pm, somewhere, and they're saying we have to take all our lottery wins. They want the five million and they're not going to stop until they get it, it seems. Oh, Velma… I hope she's OK."

Fred rested his chin on his hand, allowing Daphne to snuggle into his chest and press her face into his torso and putting his arm round her.

"WES GRDNS… Humm. What about West Gardens? That's an estate in the suburbs over to the west. That might be where they're holding her."

He glanced down at his watch. It was showing ten past seven.

"We've been out here for longer than I thought. Maybe we should go back now and stay put until morning. We're not safe here."

"Freddy, we need to find Velms!" Shaggy protested.

"I know that. But it's not safe even with us as a group. They might try taking more than one of us and that is the last thing that we want to happen."

"Man, Freddy, are you just completely paranoid or something?!" Shaggy yelled.

There was a brief silence. Fred bowed his head slightly, looking away from Shaggy, whose eyes had become wide and shocked at what he had just said. Fred had had a close scare with paranoia a couple of years ago during one mystery and the gang knew it was a sensitive subject. He had almost had to give up being a member of Mystery Inc. due to it.

"Like… man, I'm sorry, I… I didn't mean it. I'm just worried about Velma. I'm sorry."

Fred shook his head and silently turned away, taking the note out of Daphne's hand and starting to read it again, using it as something to do that wouldn't mean he had to talk to Shaggy. Shaggy's face was bright red and Scooby whined softly as he saw the rift appear in the group.

"Freddy?" Daphne asked softly. He looked up at her and gave her a forced smile.

"I'm OK. Just reading the note again."

"Freddy. Talk to us. Please."

"What am I meant to say?"

Daphne fell silent, knowing that she couldn't answer his question.

"Maybe we should go there now, but they're probably armed, they might hurt Velma if we go near them. We don't know which house in West Gardens, either."

"Like, I think we should take them decoy money," Shaggy said, sticking his thoughts into the conversation and trying to find out if Fred had forgiven him. Fred looked up and the two held eye contact for a few seconds before Shaggy smiled slightly and moved to look at the note as well, knowing from the look in his friend's eyes that he was forgiven.

"Decoy money might not work; I think they'll probably kill Velma once they've got the money. She's seen where they've gone, heard their voices, she's probably got all the evidence needed to secure a prosecution. We need to rescue her first and try to avoid contact with whoever took her."

Shaggy nodded and the group turned as one and slid into the van.

* * *

"Verona…"

Velma almost felt sick with hatred. First Verona had hijacked their mystery when she had been the crook herself, and now she had had a role in her kidnapping. The woman herself smiled, a cruel, knowing smile.

"You probably absolutely hate me, don't you, Velma Dinkley?"

Velma nodded, narrowing her eyes at her enemy.

"Good. The feeling's mutual."

Verona turned to her boyfriend, giving a small smile.

"Maybe you should reveal who you are as well; I'm sure Velma would recognise you. Goodness me, she would regret making the mistakes she made with you, wouldn't she? This is the perfect revenge plan, and I would like it if she knew from the outset who the joint masterminds were."

The person smiled, and reached up to remove his balaclava.


	4. Chapter 4

The face of the man was so close to being revealed…

Velma's eyes widened, and she gasped in disbelief as the balaclava slid off fully, showing her a face she had never thought she'd see again. Dark, brush-like hair covered his scalp, and his eyes were almost black, underneath charcoal eyebrows and thin eyelashes. His large nose set off his pointed face, and his thin lips gave him a sense of being older than his years inside.

"Gibby Norton!"

Gibby smiled, clocking her astonishment.

"Velma. Oh, how long have I waited for this day… I thought it would be a couple of years ago, when you were talking about finishing with the mysteries. One of your members went through rather a dark patch, am I right?"

Velma nodded wordlessly, not wanting to elaborate.

"Your leader, young Fred… paranoia, I'm told. It almost ended your Mystery Inc. days… How I prayed it would."

"Nothing can split up Mystery Inc.," Velma replied rebelliously, glaring at the man stood in front of her. He was Gibby, and yet… he wasn't. He had changed so much since Velma had last seen him. He was taller, stronger, older. Something had made him seem more assertive, but at the same time, more weasel-like. His pointed face, pale complexion and dark hair gave him a slightly closed look, as though the secrets he harboured were hidden deep within and were not to be accessed by any outsider. He was eyeing Velma with obvious hatred.

"Do you really hate me this much?" Velma asked softly, shocked by the change in Gibby. He nodded silently.

"Why, Gibby? What did I do to make you become… like this?"

"Plenty," Gibby hissed, his eyes narrowing. "And for your information, my name is Gibson now. I gave up the name of Gibby months ago, when I met Verona here."

Verona bared her teeth wolfishly.

"I persuaded him that it wasn't such a good name for him. Gibby is a child's name; Gibson is a man's name."

As she said this, she sidled up to him and put her hand on his neck, smiling up at him. Gibby looked down at her with a smile on his own face, his eyes delving into hers and lost in the moment. Velma took the opportunity to do some fake retching.

"Shut up!" Gibby hissed, turning on her, his eyes flashing with lava-hot anger and loathing. Velma stopped abruptly.

"You were never that abrupt before."

"I was a fool before," Gibby replied, putting his arm round Verona's shoulders. She pressed her cheek against his chest and glared at Velma, an evil glint in her steely grey eyes. For the first time, Velma noticed that she no longer wore glasses; it was a blow, it meant that the knocking-the-glasses-off attack was no longer available.

"You remember when I loved you, Velma. I was devoted to you, I couldn't help myself. You were a goddess to me, but you loved that- that scruffy, mangy little beatnik-"

"Don't talk about Shaggy like that!" Velma lashed, feeling indignation and hate rise in her chest like bile. She had thought she had used up her hatred, but there was more still to come, it seemed.

"Even his name is Shaggy," Gibby sneered, putting his arm round Verona and holding her near, feeling her cuddling up to him and once again baring her pearly white incisors at Velma.

"Well, I knew that pursuing you was useless, and after being released from prison after you caught me, I decided that I no longer wanted you. But I wasted away from desire, driven mad until I met a new woman."

"Me," Verona hissed, still in Gibby's arms and leering at Velma. Velma glared at her.

"You're welcome to him. I never wanted him."

"Your downfall, Dinkley," Gibby growled. "Anyway, Verona and I both hated you and your silly little friends, as you proved both of our downfalls. We decided to get our revenge just as we decided to get together, having discovered that we loved each other. It was meant to be, I think."

"Fascinating," Velma murmured. Verona sniggered.

"You're the one I could Taser at any moment, Dinkley."

"We decided what we were going to do, and we plotted as to our moment," Gibby continued, his eyes still narrowed with intense distaste. "We thought it would be when Fred was diagnosed with paranoia and you were so intent with helping him that you were barely giving your own safety a care. I thought it would be easy to get back at him at the same time; you are never more vulnerable than when you're… mad."

"Freddy is not mad and he never was!"

"Then what was he?" Gibby jeered, enjoying seeing Velma het up.

"He was… he was just ill, that's all."

Verona cackled.

"He was mad. Carry on, Gibson darling."

Velma stuck her tongue out in disgust, and Gibby kicked her in the side, grinning as she yelped in pain and curled round the area of impact.

"How I waited to hurt you, Velma… how I waited. To injure you, attack you, leave you bleeding as you left me. Revenge truly is the sweetest thing."

Velma spat at him, anger coursing through her along with loathing and shock. She couldn't have imagined how Gibby would turn out, and yet here he was, an evil man with a grudge against her and a girlfriend whom she detested almost as much as him and who had a Taser lodged in her pocket.

"Verona. You want your revenge too. Do the honours, darling."

"Of course, Gibson," Verona said sweetly, pulling the Taser from her pocket and aiming it at the defenceless girl lying on the basement floor, who closed her eyes and waited for the sting to come.

Velma's shrieks of pain travelled through the little house, reverberating through the walls and echoing in the halls of the building, screams of pure pain and torture and fright and agony. The buzzing went on, and the cries grew louder and louder and more desperate, changing to begging, crying, gasping.

Eventually, they stopped, and Gibby and Verona walked upstairs, leaving Velma unconscious on the basement floor and going into the bedroom to sleep.

Gibby didn't bother to lock the door. He knew that there was no way Velma could get out of the basement alone, and he didn't think of the possibility that someone might help her.

Making a mental note to call on the other girl and find out where she was in the morning, Gibby fell asleep next to Verona, the Taser recharging on the bedside table and Verona's snores mingling with his.

* * *

"22 West Gardens… nope, that's not someone we know or anyone who might be holding a grudge… Hey."

Fred's sudden halt made the others look over.

"Freddy?" Daphne asked, walking over and looking at the computer screen in front of him. As she saw what it was saying, her own eyes widened and she gave a little gasp.

"Verona Dempsey and Gibby Norton! Cohabiting and definitely people who might have a grudge against Velma."

Shaggy walked over as well, looking confused. Scooby leapt up from his nest of assorted cushions on the floor behind Shaggy's chair and leapt up to put his paws on Fred's shoulders, so as to get a decent view of the computer screen.

"Rerona Remprey rand Ribby Rorton?"

"That's right, Scoob," Daphne said, checking out the property details. They had been given the database information by the police, so that they could check out the area around the kidnapping site and find out if anybody living nearby might hold a grudge against the group or just Velma in particular. "Number 23 West Gardens, Ohio… I wonder why they picked Ohio? Gibby comes from Minnesota, and Verona's from Delaware. They're on our criminal database."

"Naturally," Fred murmured. "I have a feeling they're the ones who took Velma. But I don't get it; why take Velma and ask for the money from the lottery? Gibby's got a good job in mechanics, Verona has enough qualifications to get decent work. Why would they want the cash?"

"I have a feeling it's not the cash that's the motivating factor as much, Freddy. I think this is a revenge attack and they want to draw us in and probably kill Velma. Gibby loved Velma but she never loved him; that's probably the motivation for this. I suspect Verona is the driving force, you know how much she and Velma hate each other."

Fred nodded, and Scooby yelped as the top of Fred's head collided with his jaw.

"Sorry, Scoob…"

Fred reached backwards and rubbed Scooby's jaw, still thinking hard.

"Is it safe to go in? Or are we going to be putting ourselves in even more danger if we try and rescue her?"

"I say we get police back-up and go in," Daphne said. Shaggy nodded.

"Like, yeah, man. Sounds good to me."

Fred nodded and closed the screen, picking up the phone to call the police precinct.


	5. Chapter 5

"Uh… Why does everything hurt?"

Velma slowly opened her eyes, groaning with pain as she did so. Her whole body ached from its ordeal with the Taser, and she tried to move her arm out from under her and gasped in agony.

"Woken up, little girl?"

Velma looked over and saw Gibby standing in the doorway with an evil smile on his face, leering down at her and his eyes cold as flint.

"Gibby… just… stop…" Velma moaned, closing her eyes again. Gibby knelt down in front of her and grabbed her arm, smiling at her shriek of agony.

"My name is Gibson now. And that was just a little reminder of the pain you put me through."

He turned and left the room, kicking her in the side as he left and swerving past someone else in the doorway.

"Give her some food, Canyon. Can't have her starving to death."

"Yes, Mr Norton," a girl's voice said, and Velma recognised her as being the girl who had tied her up in the van.

Velma heard Gibby leave and Canyon walk down the steps towards her, her footsteps calm and light on the concrete floor.

"I want to help you," Canyon said gently as Velma pushed her hand away. "Velma, I want to get you out of here."

Gently as she could, Canyon lifted Velma up and got her into a sitting position, handing her a glass of water and some painkillers. Velma swallowed them eagerly, the knowledge that the pain would go overriding the pain she felt when she swallowed them, the feeling that someone was helping her also allowing her to feel more at ease. As soon as she had drunk the water and eaten the bread and jam that Canyon had brought down for her, Canyon whisked the tray away and whispered, "I need to avoid their suspicions, I'll come down later."

Velma nodded and gave Canyon a weak smile, lying back against the wall. As the girl left with a swish of long blonde hair, she began dwelling in her memories, but not her good ones: she was back in the days when she was a lonely, isolated little girl, before she met the gang, playing on her own and hearing her dad complaining about her being a "little loner"; and then much older and remembering hearing the diagnosis of paranoia for her best friend, hearing the doctor describing how he would have lucid periods and more manic periods for weeks until his treatment finished and how even with the treatment he might be the same for the rest of his life; his closed, dark eyes and his drawn, unsmiling face came back to her sharply as she remembered and dug her nails into her palms, glad that the painkillers were working and easing the pain from her electrically injured body.

Canyon didn't come back, and eventually Velma fell back into a confused and dream-riddled sleep, curling on the hard floor and feeling the bruises from Gibby's attacks keenly.

* * *

"Number 23 West Gardens, Ohio. We've got that as currently being occupied by a Miss Verona Dempsey and a Mr Gibson Norton, yes."

"Good," Fred said, taking his hand away from his chin and standing up, grabbing the keys to the Mystery Machine as he did so. Daphne grabbed his arm and he nodded at her, mouthing "I'm not going anywhere yet", and ended the call, thanking the police officer and plopping the phone back onto the holder.

"We need some kind of plan. Someone needs to find her while the others distract them, and if that means being Tasered I'll do that part, I don't mind. This is for Velms."

Shaggy bit his lip.

"Maybe, but, like, you're the strong guy, we might need you to subdue them, man. I dunno, maybe I should be the one to get Tasered."

"No, me, I'm just a pretty face; Velms needs you, Shag," Daphne said immediately, stepping in. Fred and Shaggy both shot her identical looks.

"Since when were you just a pretty face, Daph?" Fred asked, putting his arm round her, looking deep into her eyes. "Here's the deal. Whoever he Tasers, he Tasers. We probably wouldn't have any control over that anyway. We don't need to waste precious time arguing over something beyond what we're controlling. Let's just go and see what happens."

Daphne nodded and slipped her hand into his as he pocketed the keys and grabbed his jacket, heading for the door. He gave her a brief smile and they walked out together, with Shaggy and Scooby bringing up the rear and calling the police precinct to tell them the plan and get some backup, preferably someone with a Taser as well.

The backup agreed to meet them at the end of the street and come up with an official plan together.

* * *

"Here you go," Canyon said quietly, crouching next to Velma and handing her some toast and peanut butter. Velma hungrily devoured the meagre meal, wishing it was one of Shaggy's famous sandwiches (in Velma-size; she doubted anyone less than Superman could devour one of Shaggy's sandwiches) but with no real complaints about it. Canyon seemed to be on her side, anyway.

"Why are you being so nice to me, anyway?" she asked as Canyon dug in her pocket and pulled out some more painkillers. Movement was still painful for Velma, and her joints and head were especially sore after the Taser attack.

Canyon cocked her head to one side, smiling slightly.

"I admire you, Velma. You and Mystery Inc. How you've got through things together, solved mysteries nobody else even dared to attempt, and how you've stayed together through it all. And through stuff like your friend being ill and… well, Mom says he was mad, but I say he was ill."

"Verona's your mom?"

"Step-mom. She knew I would be useful in this and I did it because I don't want to go back to my dad. He's… on drugs… and I wanted to stay with her after they split up. She doesn't really take much notice of me, she just wants me for this and that's fine with me. Better than being with Dad."

Velma's heart melted in pity for Canyon, but she had more pressing matters on her mind right now.

"Will you help me and the guys, when they come?"

Canyon nodded, her hair falling over her face and obscuring her light blue eyes for a second before she flicked it back. Her wool hat was clamped over her skull and kept the majority back.

"I will. And was he really mad?" Canyon asked gently. Velma shook her head.

"He was just ill, like I said. It was only for a little while; it was just that he couldn't trust anyone. He's back to normal now."

Canyon smiled.

"I'm glad to hear it."

Verona hollered from upstairs, making the two jump.

"Canyon! Gibson's got another job for you!"

"Coming, Mom!" Canyon shouted back, fear flitting over her face but not showing in her voice. Velma gazed at her with newfound respect in her eyes.

"You'd better go."

Canyon nodded and hurried up the stairs, her hair flying out behind her. Velma closed her eyes and dreamed of the gang finding her and taking her back to safety.

* * *

"We'll go in and Taser the inhabitants of the house, and then you guys will find your friend and get out of there in case they turn nasty. We won't give them the chance to Taser you or anyone else."

Fred nodded and grasped Daphne's hand as she shuddered, thinking of what the people in that house were capable of.

"Gibby must have changed a lot, to want to do something like this," she said quietly. Fred nodded.

"Maybe he's… not right mentally."

Daphne squeezed his hand this time, reaching over and pulling him into a hug.

"Maybe so. But what we have to focus on right now is going and getting Velma back, and the police will handle Gibby and Verona."

"We don't even know she's in there."

"Call it my women's intuition."

He smiled at the familiar remark.

"Fine. Stay close to me, and be careful, yeah? I don't want you getting hurt, I would be so angry with myself if you were."

"It wouldn't be your fault," Daphne murmured, standing up as the police van emptied and stepping out, pulling him with her gently. "You know that. Stop taking the blame for everything."

He managed a small smile.

"Let's go," the officer in charge said grimly, grabbing the door and twisting the handle. Unsurprisingly, it was locked.

"Skeleton key."

Someone passed it over and the officer unlocked the door, his hands deft on the key and making as little noise as possible.

"On the count of three. One… two… three!"

The door was flung open and the people charged in, the young man in charge of the Taser holding it out and his hands firm on the small weapon.

In the front room, Verona and Gibby shrieked as they saw it, and Verona grabbed hers from the table and aimed it as the Taser officer fired his Taser straight at her, not giving her a chance to aim or even get her finger on the trigger.

The Taser gave a little whine and died.

Verona's face split into a wide smile as she held her Taser aloft, becoming wicked and leering as the young man stuttered, "Sir, it's… it's not working…"

* * *

A/N: Ooh, cliffhanger… What'll happen next? Keep tuned… Jazzola :)


	6. Chapter 6

"What a pretty gathering."

Verona's face was triumphant, loving the situation; she had Mystery Inc. right where she wanted them- at her mercy.

"If the rest of you could step outside, please, and let me deal with these meddling kids myself."

The officers looked round at each other uncertainly. Verona had the Taser and they were unarmed, but they outnumbered her and Gibby three to one, not including the gang. Maybe they should try and take them…

"NOW!" Verona shouted, her finger tightening on the Taser. "Or I swear I'll Taser Velma to death! Get out, everyone except Mystery Inc.!"

The officer in charge swallowed and mouthed to Fred, "Do you think you can handle this?" Fred nodded and the officer swallowed again and led his troops out of the house and back into the police van.

"Good," Verona said softly, walking over to Fred and pressing the Taser against his throat. He simply looked back at her, his face expressionless, his eyes dark and giving nothing away, inscrutable. Verona smiled and gently slid the Taser down until it was pressing against his stomach, one part touching his skin through a small rip in his shirt that he kept meaning to mend and hadn't got round to.

"I could electrocute you right here and right now if I wanted to. Give me one very good reason not to, Jones."

Fred gave a small smile.

"How can I, when you're hell-bent on killing us all."

Verona cackled, twitching her trigger finger and laughing properly when she saw him flinch.

"I will Taser you, but not yet. I want you to see something first. Something you all hold very dear. Canyon, dear, bring Velma up; I'm sure she would like to see her friends die."

"Yes, Mom," Canyon said quietly from the corner, standing up from her crouched position next to the TV and walking down the hall towards the basement. Verona watched her go, an evil smirk on her face, and turned to see Daphne's terrified and angry face.

"Your boyfriend is about to die, Blake. Have to say I'd feel the same way were Gibson in this position…"

"Gibby?" Daphne asked, her eyes wide. "You two are together?"

"Yes. Why, did you think we were cohabiting in the un-romantic way? No. We love each other and that love is fuelled by our hatred of Mystery Inc. and the fools who make it up. It is a very strong love because of that… Nothing will part us, you know. Nothing can ever part us."

Verona looked back at Fred, who was edging away from the Taser, trying to get out of its range without attracting her attention, and pushed it against him again, her eyes leering at him.

"There's nothing you can do. Just wait for it to all be over, and enjoy your last few seconds of life on earth, madman."

"Madman?" Fred asked, momentarily distracted from the peril that was the Taser.

"It landed you in hospital before. I'd say you were pretty mad."

"Paranoia is not madness," Fred replied quietly, looking down, not letting her have the pleasure of seeing his face. Verona smiled and motioned to Gibby, who was still standing behind an armchair, smiling at the scene unfolding in front of him.

"Do you want to take the leader? I think we should kill Velma between us, but these we will have to split."

"I want the madman and the pretty girl," Gibby said coldly, walking over and scrutinising Fred and Daphne, his dark eyes narrowed and frosty. "They'll do me fine. You can take the beatnik and the stupid dog."

Scooby growled, finding some courage from somewhere in his canine instincts. Gibby kicked him savagely in the side and sent him sprawling towards Shaggy, who caught him and smoothed his fingers over the bruises blooming under Scooby's fur.

"Scooby, man, like, you're OK, it's just a bruise," he whispered, hugging the Dane as they trembled together, both thinking of the Taser and what seemed to be their imminent deaths.

"Shut up," Gibby growled at Shaggy, who held Scooby tighter and looked deep into Gibby's tunnel-like eyes, glaring at the man until he looked away and focused on Verona, allowing Shaggy to win his own small battle. Verona was still pressing the Taser against Fred's stomach and the rip in it, knowing that he couldn't do anything for fear of her switching the Taser on, and watching as he looked towards Daphne and gave her a small, brave smile. Daphne choked back tears and tried to compose herself, waiting for Canyon to return with Velma.

After what felt like an eternity, Canyon staggered up the steps supporting Velma, who looked as though she had been tortured. Her face was ghostly pale and her movement was jerky and hesitant, as though it hurt her to move at all. Fred made to move forwards and abruptly stopped as the Taser pressed against his skin, biting his lip, looking younger than usual in his fright and uncertainty.

"Freddy," Velma murmured, her eyes drinking in the sight of Verona holding the Taser to his skin. She looked up and the two made eye contact. "Don't move," she whispered, and then mouthed, "Help is on the way" when Verona's back was turned. Gibby didn't understand what she was saying, since he couldn't lip-read, but after having had to lip-read in so many mysteries where talking was impossible or dangerous Fred understood everything and sent her a confused but much calmer look. Gibby snarled at him and walked over, resisting the urge to take the Taser from Verona and use it on Fred himself and instead punching Fred in the gut. Fred bent slightly from the impact, but kept his composure and didn't look at Gibby, keeping his gaze away from him and Verona. Velma nodded at him and turned away as Gibby began speaking.

"Where did Canyon go?"

The two looked round. Velma was holding onto the back of the armchair for support and the window was wide open, the curtains flapping in the breeze.

"Curse the child!" Gibby screamed suddenly, grabbing a lamp from the table and smashing it against the wall. Verona grabbed his arm, not moving the Taser from Fred but trying to calm Gibby down.

"Gibson- Gibson, stop! We have the kids at our mercy. By the time anyone could get here, we'll have killed them and left."

Velma gave a little whimper which nobody but Shaggy caught. He gave her a reassuring look over Scooby's head and she gave him a tiny smile in return, not much braver than he was at that moment in time.

"Shall we get down to business?" Verona asked softly, pressing the Taser harder against Fred's skin. "Or is the madman going to beg for his life?" she whispered to Fred, staring into his eyes, grey into vivid blue. "Any last requests? Anything you want to say before you die?"

"Why are you doing this and why does killing us make anything better?" Fred asked softly. "Your revenge would be better if it made our lives a misery, not took them away. We can die quickly with that Taser."

"What are you saying? That I should let you live?" Verona hissed, glaring at him. Fred nodded.

"I'm saying that maybe you should keep us here, torture us instead of killing us immediately. Savour the moment before it's gone."

Verona scrutinised him before smiling.

"I knew I was right. He's mad. But he has a point; I have my cake and I am going to eat it slowly. Gibson, take them down into the basement along with Miss Dinkley here. I am going to make them suffer."

Verona didn't see the smile on Fred's face as Gibby forced his arms behind his back and pushed him towards the basement and she turned away and did the same to Daphne. Daphne was crying as she was pushed towards her boyfriend, not knowing what to think about what had just happened.

As soon as they were shoved ungracefully into the basement and were lying in the dark, the door locked and Gibby keeping watch, Daphne turned and grabbed Fred's arm, confusion on her face.

"Freddy- what are you doing? Why did you say that stuff?"

Fred smiled, taking hold of Daphne's hand and pulling her into a hug.

"I was buying us time. Canyon left to get help."

Daphne gasped with relief and buried her head in his chest, beginning to sob.

"She'll come back and they'll be arrested and we'll get out of here. They think I'm mad anyway so I was playing the mad card to keep us alive. We'll get out soon, I promise. Even if one of us has to die. I'll make sure it's me."

"No," Daphne whispered fiercely, reaching up and putting her hand on his cheek. "You're not going to die, I won't let you die. We're all getting out of here alive."

Fred smiled at her and let her kiss him, sitting down on the floor next to her and lying back against the wall, waiting. Daphne curled herself round him and closed her eyes, feeling safe with his warm body pressed against hers.

From the room above the basement, a buzzing sound, like a Taser being fired, sounded, and a girl screamed in pain.

"Canyon!" Velma shrieked.

* * *

A/N: Ooh, another cliffhanger… sorry, peeps! Hope you liked it, and review if you haven't already! Jazzola :)


	7. Chapter 7

"Stay where you are!"

Gibby burst into the basement as the screams rang through the house, making sure of Mystery Inc.'s entrapment in the basement before running into the kitchen to deal with whatever was happening there. A familiar laugh floated down the stairs as the screams stopped and something hit the floor above the basement hard.

"Silly child. Thought you could stand in my way, did you? Maybe this'll teach you who is more powerful here…"

"Help me," Canyon sobbed, her voice distinct but slurred by her crying. Velma clenched her fists, but she was still weak from being Tasered and couldn't even stand up without Shaggy supporting her.

"Daph?" Fred asked softly, looking down at her and into her eyes, his quiet and calm but burning slightly with the desire for getting out of there. Daphne nodded and put her hand on his chest.

"We should go up there and help her."

"Guys, no," Velma hissed immediately. "You'll get into worse trouble, you'll be Tasered as well. Freddy, you wouldn't, you're more sensible than that- aren't you?"

Fred smiled.

"Nice try, Velms. You know what I'm thinking, right, Daph?"

Daphne nodded, but didn't smile.

"We'll go up there and keep them busy. I've got a plan. You guys run and get help, or get the help that Canyon got to here. We'll be fine."

"Freddy- Daph, Freddy, STOP!" Velma shrieked as they ran up the stairs and towards the door.

Shaggy gently pulled Velma to her feet and picked her up, Scooby helping him to hold onto her and balancing her in his friend's arms.

"They've, like, gone now and we're going to go and do what they told us, right, man?" Shaggy asked, looking deep into Velma's eyes. She nodded and sighed as Shaggy gently carried her up and escaped out of the basement.

"Please… please, Mom, stop… I'll do any- anything…" Canyon shrieked as the Taser fired at her again, buzzing harshly and sending her into convulsions on the grimy floor, making her writhe and scream with pain.

"You little fool, you thought you could triumph over me?" Verona laughed, pushing the button again and cackling as Canyon cried out with fresh pain and curled herself into a ball, tears streaming down her face. Gibby was standing next to her with triumph on his weasel-like face as the girl sobbed and gasped and screamed with pain.

"I told you you should have sent her back to live with her worthless father," he said cruelly, and Verona nodded and placed the Taser on the table.

"Now. Who did you ask to come and where are they coming from and who are they? I want all those questions answered."

"The police, the precinct to the east, there's seven of them and they have Tasers," Canyon sobbed, shrieking again as her stepmother pulled her up roughly by the arm and shoved her down under the table, thinking hard.

"Now," Fred whispered from behind the armchair, and the two stood up and walked towards Verona. Daphne made to grab the Taser from the table and Gibby slapped her hand away hastily, pointing the Taser at them, malice gleaming in his dark eyes.

"We have company, of the filthy sort. The madman and his pretty little girlfriend. How pleasant."

"Canyon is telling the truth," Fred said evenly, looking down at Canyon with pity in his eyes. Only she caught his gaze.

"They're coming from that way, and they have Tasers, I heard her calling them," he continued, stepping back as Gibby advanced on him with the Taser held out in front of him. "Taser me all you want, you can't kill me before they get here."

Gibby narrowed his eyes at Fred, then jerked his thumb at Verona.

"Verona, you go and get the others and put them in the van out the back. I'll take care of these two."

Verona nodded wordlessly, her eyes flashing at Daphne and Fred, and walked towards the entrance to the basement.

"I could kill you, you know," Gibby hissed, pressing the Taser against Fred's chest as Verona had done before. "Why shouldn't I?"

Fred smiled slightly and made a minute motion to Daphne.

The ironing board suddenly burst from the wall and smacked Gibby in the head, felling him like a rush.

"Good aim," Fred laughed, crouching down and picking up the Taser. Daphne giggled and put her hand on his, holding it to her heart.

"You won't- you won't kill anyone with that, will you?"

Fred shook his head quickly, putting her mind at rest.

"Of course not."

Daphne smiled thankfully at him and let his hand go, turning as a shriek came from the doorway and Verona rushed back in, not having realised what had happened in the kitchen.

"They're gone! Gibson, they-"

Her eyes widened as she saw Fred pointing the Taser at her and Daphne standing next to him, her hand on his arm, smoothing it over his skin.

"Go on, Freddy. Fire, then we'll get out of here."

Fred swallowed hard, not wanting to fire even on this hateful woman. Daphne reached over and gently took the weapon from him, grasping his hand and raising the Taser herself.

She closed her eyes as she pressed the button.

Verona screamed as the bolt jolted through her body, and she fell, jerking like a demented puppet on the floor, her mouth wide open and shrieking in pain, clutching crazily at random drawers, handles, anything that she could as Daphne held the button of the Taser as firmly as she could and Fred averted his eyes, not liking the sight of the woman crying out and tears running down her sharp face…

The buzzing grew slightly fainter, stalled, and then died.

The Taser had run out of battery.

Daphne stared at the small weapon, confusion and annoyance on her face, just as something attacked her from behind and pulled her to the floor.

* * *

"Velma Dinkley?"

"Like, who said that?" Shaggy yelped, turning and staring round at someone standing on the pavement next to him.

"Don't worry, Mr Rogers. I'm an undercover police officer. Canyon called me and told me to get help and where you were, so I've called for backup and I've got my gun with me should anyone try anything. Can you tell me where your other friends are?"

"Freddy and Daphne, like, said they would keep them busy…" Shaggy murmured, gently shifting his grip on Velma to make his carrying her more comfortable for them both. The officer frowned.

"Keep them busy? Are they crazy?"

"That's what we thought," Velma said quietly, shifting slightly in Shaggy's arms and wincing as his finger poked into her sore back. "Can we go there and see if we can help before the back-up get here? I don't want Freddy and Daphne to get Tasered."

The officer nodded.

"We can take a look, but I'm not going to be able to do much, from the sound of things."

The four started walking towards the house, the officer unsheathing his gun as he walked and slipping a magazine of bullets into it.

* * *

"Agh!" Daphne shrieked, crumpling as someone threw themselves onto her back and snatched the Taser from her hand. They reached over onto the table and grabbed some new batteries, pushing them in with their knee on Daphne's back and fending Fred off with one arm.

"Get off me!" Gibby yelled as Fred grabbed his glasses from his face and discarded them over by the TV, knowing that Gibby was as good as blind without them. Gibby fired, hard but blankly- and, by a stroke of luck, hit Fred. Fred yelped and collapsed, and Daphne cried out with him and hurriedly stood up, rushing over to him and grabbing his hand, whispering urgently to him. He half-opened his eyes and looked into hers, seeing the fear in her face and squeezing her hand faintly.

"Just get the Taser off him," he murmured, closing his eyes.

Daphne nodded and stood up, smiling as Gibby aimed the Taser at her. He had been silent for a few seconds while they talked, seeing what they were saying, and now he faced Daphne with his eyes narrowed and the Taser in his hand.

Daphne took a step towards him- and felt something being pressed into her hand from beneath the table.

Not knowing what it was, she raised it and her fingers found a trigger.

* * *

A/N: Please review if you haven't already! Thanks to Angel1008, Swamp Fairy, Hayles45 and thebieberbabe for your comments! Jazzola :)


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Sorry to keep you… I had it pointed out to me that the Taser in this story isn't very realistic, and it's not, I do accept that. But in order to make this story and the concept work, I had to exaggerate on the Taser a little. They aren't really as bad as this, people! :P Anyway, read on! Jazzola :)

* * *

"AGH!"

Gibby's scream filled the room as the bang faded, and the thump of his body hitting the floor resounded with the echo of the gunshot. Verona screamed from her position of being sprawled on the floor and tried to push herself up slightly, but failed and fell again.

Daphne turned and saw Fred staring at Gibby as he lay gasping on the tiles, crimson beginning to spread from his stomach and form a pool around him. Verona's shrieks grew in volume and Daphne rushed over to help Fred up and support him. He shook his head at her and grabbed the phone.

"We gotta get an ambulance, or Gibby'll die."

"Are you nuts?!"

"No, I just don't want you locked up for murder."

Daphne hadn't even thought of that.

"Oh. Right."

Fred yanked the house phone from the stand, his hands fumbling slightly as they punched the numbers in but for the main part steady.

"I need an ambulance, 23 West Gardens, a guy's been shot in the stomach. I'm Fred Jones. Please get here quickly."

"Do you really care that much about Gibby, Freddy?" Daphne asked him quietly as he knelt down next to Gibby and pressed a cloth to the wound on his stomach. Fred shook his head, a faint smile playing over his lips.

"I care about you. That's why I'm doing this for him. I know you shot him in self-defence, but a court might not see it that way if he dies and you might end up charged with manslaughter."

"OK."

Daphne grabbed a cloth as well and started helping him, doing what he told her to do since he was the one with the most first aid experience. He and Velma had gone on a training course years ago at school, Fred for a project and Velma for pure interest, and it had come in useful a few times before, but now Fred was thanking his lucky stars for the course.

"I thought you wanted him dead?" Verona hissed, trying to stand up and her hands fumbling on the Taser. Daphne whipped it out of her reach and she groaned and pushed herself up, using the cupboard as a means of getting up.

"I don't want Daph in prison, I don't care about Gibby," Fred replied acidly, and Daphne pushed Verona back down and tied her hands behind her back with string from one of the cupboards.

"I always knew you were mad, not seeing Gibson for the genius he is," Verona growled, kicking at Daphne as she tied her feet and earning a jab in the side for her pains.

"Stop kicking or I'll shoot you as well."

Verona glared at Daphne but lay still.

"Much better."

There was a bang on the door and Fred glanced up, and then visibly relaxed as he saw the silhouette of a Great Dane outside the door, through the frosted glass.

"Daph, press those on like I showed you."

He walked over and grabbed the key from the armchair on his way past, opening the door for the police and watching as the ambulance skidded down towards the house and the paramedics unloaded the necessary medical equipment for treating Gibby's injuries. He would be taken to the secure wing of the hospital, and as soon as he was ready he would be in court for abducting Velma.

Verona was taken in a police car, seeing as she was OK after being Tasered and had gotten some of her strength back, and the gang followed in the Mystery Machine, Daphne driving since Fred had been on the receiving end of one bolt from the Taser and Velma really didn't feel like driving. She would need to be checked out in hospital as well.

* * *

"We've got your statements here, and we're going to be using these in court today, is that OK?" the court usher asked, holding out a sheath of papers with the gang's names and details on them and "STATEMENT OF EVIDENCE" written in large font on the tops of them. The gang nodded as one and walked through into the courtroom to applause from the public gallery, which Fred, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby lapped up but Velma hardly seemed to notice. She had never been one to bask in the public eye.

"All rise…"

They had barely sat down when the usher called it out and they had to stand up again for the arrival of the judge.

Each member of the gang had to speak in court, which wasn't a problem but Shaggy was so nervous he used three "like"s for each normal word in his sentences. Scooby laughed at him behind his paw but was promptly cuffed by Velma and Fred at the same time and stopped laughing abruptly, realising that it was a little unkind.

The verdict was guilty of multiple counts of assault with intent to murder, and both Gibby and Verona were sentenced to life in prison.

There was one person who wasn't in the courtroom at the time and whose condition- and therefore the sentence that would be imposed on the couple- was not yet determined or stable.

Canyon's heart had stopped due to the Taser bolts she had received from her stepmother just as she had passed the gun to Daphne from under the table and she was in the ICU in Ohio Hospital, clinging to life with her fingertips, her sixteen-year-old body battling its hardest to stay alive but the assault from the Taser still echoing through it.

It was three days before the gang received news of what the final charge would be.

Going out of the courtroom with the eyes of the media and the people in the public gallery on them, the gang were silent, Shaggy's hand on Scooby's slightly sore ears and Fred's comforting arm around Daphne's slim shoulders. Velma held onto Shaggy and he slipped an arm round her waist as she walked with her head high and her step firm, fully recovered after her ordeal at the hands of Gibby and Verona in the basement. Shaggy's heart ached with envy at how certain she seemed, but once they were in the van she almost burst into tears, ducking away from the windows and pressing her head into Shaggy's chest, trying to stop the tears coming. Scooby nuzzled her, Fred gently massaged her back (which always helped to calm her), Daphne rubbed her arm and Shaggy put both arms around her and held her close, pressing his chin onto the top of her head and gently kissing her crown.

After a few minutes, Velma pulled away, rubbed her eyes fiercely (thanking goodness that she hadn't worn any eye make-up that day) and smiled round at her friends, her old smile back.

"I don't know what I would do without you guys. Come on, let's go home. We still need to spend the money, remember?"

The money that had been the excuse, the façade, for Gibby to abduct Velma and try to kill her. It almost seemed repugnant to them now, that money, but they were determined that they were going to use it to fund Mystery Inc. and the adventures they were determined to have in the future.

Fred nodded and slipped the van into gear, a smile playing over his own mouth at the sight of the happy beam on Velma's slightly red but genuinely content face.

* * *

Five days later and a single bell tolled in the tower as an oak coffin was laid to rest in the church graveyard, the shiny marble gravestone already in place, engraved with the name of the girl being placed into the chasm in front of it.

Canyon had died after three days in hospital.

Velma, wearing black clothes she had borrowed from Daphne, was the most upset of the group, although they were all saddened by Canyon's death. She was pressing a black hankie to her eyes beneath her glasses, which were the annoying ones with the fancy frames in honour of the dead girl, and occasionally letting the tears spill over her cheeks and fall onto the black clothes. Shaggy's arm was round her, and Fred and Daphne were nearby as well, Daphne crying like her friend and Fred smoothing his fingers over her hair comfortingly.

Velma bent down just before the earth was due to be filled in around Canyon's coffin and placed a huge bouquet of Brodiaea canyon lilies on top of the coffin, tears spurting from her eyes as she did so. Shaggy squeezed her as she stood up and she turned and wrapped her arms around him as well, burying her face in his skinny chest and wishing upon wish that she could have done something to stop her saviour dying so young, and for her and the gang's sake.

"She was so brave," she murmured, whispering the words into Shaggy's black mourning suit. Shaggy nodded and held her close as the grave was filled in and the people around the grave turned away, all except Canyon's father, who didn't move for some time, tears flowing freely down his own cheeks and onto his suit, each one falling unchecked.

The gang headed slowly away from the church, where the bell had stopped tolling and the bell-ringer had come out of the belfry looking frazzled and demanding a cup of double espresso coffee. Daphne's loaned black Mercedes was waiting outside.

"Come on then," Fred said wearily, opening the back doors for Shaggy, Velma and Scooby and letting Daphne open her own door (she hated it when he held doors open for her). Velma gave him a brave little smile and slid in.

"I just can't believe Canyon lost," she murmured as they drive towards their house, after several minutes of silence. Daphne gave a sad little smile.

"We won and Canyon lost. It's not really fair."

Velma gave the same melancholy smile and lay back in her seat, Shaggy's arms still round her and holding her as tightly as possible.

"Winning and losing, I guess," she whispered as the house came into view. "Winning and losing."

THE END

* * *

A/N: Thanks to everyone who stuck with me right until the end of this one! That means thanks to Angel1008, Hayles45, Swamp Fairy and thebieberbabe (my new friend :D ). And a quick note to "random Scooby fan": I deleted your review by mistake, I'm sorry! :(


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